5,400 cases of malaria, petechial fever detected
(VOV) -In the past ten months of 2012, the Central Highland province of Dak Lak had more than 1,700 cases of malaria fever but no death reported, up 5.5 percent over the same period last year.
The number of malaria patients increased in six out of 15 towns and districts, namely Ea H’leo, Ea Sup, Ea Kar, Krong Nang, Krong Pak and Krong Buk.
The information was announced at a conference on preventing the disease in the border areas in 2012 jointly held by the provincial Health Department and the the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Vietnam on December 10.
Participants proposed urgent measures to deal with the epidemic in the region, including controlling the sources of infection from Cambodia to Vietnam and vice versa, providing adequate medicine and equipment for local health stations.
In early 2010 the Vietnamese province of Dak Lak and the Cambodian province of Mondulkiri signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in fighting the disease.
In the meantime, the southcentral province of Khanh Hoa reported more than 3,600 cases of petechial fever with three deaths.
The Deputy Head of the Provincial Health Department, Lam Quang Chung, said
Khanh Hoa is one of the two provinces with the highest rates of infection in the central region and placed fourth nationwide.
The number of cases has increased remarkably in many localities over the past four weeks and already surpassed the record figure in July.
Ninh Hoa town claimed 1,419 cases, Nha Trang city 8225 cases and Van Ninh district 641cases.